Hey everybody and welcome to a brand new review! For this one, I will be taking a look at the latest film from director, Scott Derrickson, that is now streaming on Apple TV+. First conceived by Zach Dean, whose spec script was listed on the Black List of the most liked unproduced screenplays of 2020, when I first heard of The Gorge, I thought the basic premise was intriguing and with someone like Derrickson, who is no stranger to making strong thrillers, at the helm, I became more interested. Add in having two talented young stars in Miles Teller and Anya Taylor-Joy at the helm and we have the makings of a promising high concept film. Was this able to live up to that potential? Let’s jump right in and see just how high this film climbs on the quality scale!
The movie follows two elite snipers, a former U.S. marine named Levi Kane and a Lithuanian covert operative named Drasa. They are both very good at their jobs and assigned to an identical mission: to guard their respective towers that lie on opposite sides of a remote and mysterious gorge without any contact from both each other or the outside world for a year. The purpose of this Gorge is to prevent a mysterious evil from coming from above but neither party is given much more information beyond that. Once on duty, the two begin to form a connection with one another due to their shared isolation. This two become closer as time goes on and soon have to face further challenges when they come to learn more about what they have been protecting this entire time.
For the first hour or so of this film, I was actually quite engaged in the story that was being told. I think Derrickson and Dean do a solid job of setting up the main story as well as our two leads, who they are, and why they end up following through on this offer to guard this mysterious gorge. I can understand where they are coming from and I think the set up is efficiently done getting to the point quickly but effectively. There’s quite a bit of exposition thrown in at times, but I still dug the vibes of seeing these two make the most of their situation and they begin to form a connection with one another. It is here where the film really shines as it takes on the form of a rom com in a weird way where we see them flirt while separated by a giant gorge, using markers and paper to communicate. It’s funny, charming, and develops our two leads in a compelling way. I really like the idea of having these two lost souls who don’t have much in their lives beyond being good at killing finding solace through one another in an unusual circumstance. I think the movie work really well as that… and then they eventually have to go into the gorge.
Yes, I know it was inevitable that this was going to happen as there is a lot of set up in regards to what is down there. I also do appreciate that it is not treated as much of a secret that monstrous beings are present down there as that is revealed pretty early on. Its not even that I’m against things switching gears and becoming more action oriented… I just wish that stuff was more compelling. As it stands, once our two leads venture into the abyss, the proceedings become a lot less engaging and it becomes more of a video game more than anything with our two leads going from one point to the next and facing distinct obstacles with not much in the way of interesting character stuff or plot beyond some exposition and standard plot developments. There are some interesting ideas here and there regarding how the Gorge came to be, but none of it is handled in a manner that is unique or all that interesting. It’s still watchable enough I guess, but after the very promising first half, it was disappointing to see this devolve into a disposable action thriller that frankly runs way longer than it needs to (this is not a premise that justifies an over 2 hour runtime).
At the very least with a director like Derrickson on board, there is bound to be some solid atmosphere present. There are definitely is a vibe of uncertainty that permeates the first half of the film and Derrickson is able to capture that very well. Cinematographer, Dan Laustsen, is also able to get in some nice shots of the vast scenery present that do a good job in emphasizing the vast gorge and the isolation that comes with it and how small the character compare to that scale. That being said some of the green screen can be pretty obvious at times and there are times where it has that feel big budget streaming movies have, where it is hard to get a grasp of the director’s unique style.
Once we get into the Gorge though, we also get some cool visual stuff with specific areas being shrouded in bright smoke of different colors and there being some solidly creepy imagery thrown in of the various creatures that lurk in there and I quite liked the designs of them especially those of the mysterious tree creatures (insert The Happening joke here). Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross’s score was also very effective (no surprise there), really trying to make things more exciting than they end up being. I say that can most of the action is aggressively fine, albeit it gets repetitive quickly with most of it consisting of our two leads shooting at CGI things with a scene involving a jeep coming the close to being somewhat inventive. It honestly would make for a fun video game that I wish I could’ve been playing at the very least.
As I mentioned before, a large part of why the film worked for that first hour was because of the relationship that is formed between Levi and Drasa, large part because we have two talented actors in their shoes. Miles Teller does a very good job in portraying the former’s reserved personality who is coping with some serious issues deep down, while also managing to be quite charming when he starts to open up to his newfound ally. Anya-Taylor Joy is great as always, being the more energetic of the two and having a fun deadpan wit that I thought led to some very entertaining moments. The two have very solid chemistry with one another, with them being different in some ways, but similar in others and the scenes of them bonding over their interests (like shooting as snipers) and connecting with one another were really nice. Do I wish that their arc had ended in a more satisfying way? Yeah, but at the very least they help prevent the proceedings from feeling too underdeveloped.
Given the nature of the story, it’s not a surprise that the supporting cast is limited, but those that have something to do get the job done. It’s always nice to see Sigourney Weaver in stuff, even if her role as the mysterious Bartholomew, the person behind this whole situation, didn’t really do much for me and I thought the way they tried to deal with that character felt pretty forced (honestly didn’t even think she was that necessary). Sope Dirisu is makes the most of his brief role as J.D., a the solider whom Levi is filling in for, as he adds some good natured fun to a character who largely exists as an exposition machine. I also thought William Houston was effective as Drasa’s washed up father, Erikas, adding a more sympathetic layer to her character’s background.
All in all, The Gorge is a mixed bag of a picture that can be great in some parts and unremarkable in others. It has a really strong first half, the romance angle is well handled, there are some cool visuals here and there, the atmosphere is nice, and the two lead performances are great. At the same time, it gets less interesting and more repetitive as it goes along, the central mystery just kind of feels there, there are some wonky visual aspects, the action isn’t anything to write home about, and there were parts that felt half baked. Again, it’s a largely watchable picture with some cool parts, but it just didn’t really add up to much once we reached the end. Those who want to watch something on streaming that provides enough thrills could do worse, but I think the potential was there for more considering the promising premise and talent involved. It just ends up being another standard streaming release, even if I admire how it was trying to tackle all these different genres… and succeeded at some more than others.
Rating: C+
Please leave your thoughts down below in the comments and see you guys later!
Review Time 